Abdominal pain when lying down during pregnancy
Abdominal pain is also a common symptom during pregnancy with a variety of possible causes. Especially abdominal pains that occur when lying down are typical for the last months of a pregnancy. In most cases, they are harmless complaints and are no cause for concern.
Due to the growth of the child and the increasing lack of space in the pregnant woman’s abdomen, abdominal pain can occur. The reason for this is usually an increased pressure on the stomach with an accompanying reflux symptomatology. This symptom, also known as heartburn, sometimes manifests itself with severe pain in the upper abdomen.
Flatulence during pregnancy is also often responsible for the symptoms and also depends on the individual body position. Other causes that can be responsible for the complaints are stretching of the ligaments and muscles caused by pregnancy, so-called exercise contractions, an ectopic pregnancy as well as infections or cysts. It should be noted, however, that serious diseases are usually accompanied by complaints that occur independently of the body position and cannot be influenced by changing it.
Improvement of symptoms
It often happens that a spontaneous improvement of the abdominal pain occurs although no causal therapy has been undertaken. In most cases this is due to the fact that flatulence was the cause of the complaints. A spontaneous passage of the fixed winds leads to an improvement of the symptoms.
An easier passage of the flatulence can often be achieved by changing the body position. Thus, fixed winds can often be successfully released by lying down and turning from one side to the other. If the abdominal pain is worse when lying down, it can be helpful to put your legs up or walk a little.
But other illnesses can also be accompanied by a spontaneous improvement in abdominal pain. For example, some diseases are accompanied by so-called colicky pain. These occur in waves and typically have symptom-free phases. A symptom-free phase is often followed by a phase in which extremely severe pain is described. A change in body position does not usually bring about any improvement in these diseases.
Worsening symptoms
If the symptoms get worse while lying down and the pain is stronger in this position, there can be different causes. As a rule, flatulence is the cause of the deterioration in the altered body position. For example, the pressure prevailing in the intestine and the distribution of the gases change when the body position is changed.
If the pressure in the bowel is increased by the lying position, the pain becomes stronger. Conversely, an improvement can often be achieved if the body position is changed. If the pain is worst when lying down, turning on the stomach or back and walking a short distance can cause an improvement in symptoms.
There are also serious diseases that are associated with abdominal pain, which can get worse when lying down. Especially worth mentioning is the reflux. Because of the lying position of the body, it is easier for stomach acid to enter the esophagus and cause discomfort there. If the complaints typically occur in the upper abdomen and are worse when lying down, a reflux diagnosis should always be carried out for this reason.
